Research
I am currently preparing a monograph for Manchester University Press entitled A North-West Passage: Towards a Mancunian Psychogeography. This book will conduct a ʻdetournedʼ cultural history of Manchester, seeking in to reconnect the notion of ʻpsychogeographyʼ as developed by the French 1960s avant-garde group the Situationist International with the materialist, utopian, and internationalist currents evident in Manchester itself. Because of the potentially wide public audience for such a work, I plan to maximise the economic and social impacts of the research by organising a conference and a series of engagement events on the topic in and around Manchester, with a view to developing an exhibition with a relevant cultural partner to coincide with the publication of the book.
My PhD thesis focused on the poetry and prose of the London-based writer Iain Sinclair, reading his work in through the various interpretations of urban space developed throughout the history of twentieth-century avant-gardism, with particular reference to those of Walter Benjamin as elaborated in The Arcades Project, and the theories of the city articulated by the Situationist International.
More broadly, I am interested in the debates which surround the intersection of modernity, Modernism and the relationship between contemporary art and literature, contemporary fiction, science fiction, and critical theory.
Education
2006-2012 | PhD, English Literature and Critical Theory, University of Manchester. Thesis title: Form, Place, and Memory: Materialist Readings of Iain Sinclairʼs London Writing. Supervised by Dr Daniela Caselli and Professor Bertrand Taithe |
2001-2002 | MA, English Literature and Cultural Theory, University of Manchester |
1998-2001 | BA (Hons), English Language and Literature, University of Manchester (2.i) |
Publications
Forthcoming | A North-West Passage: Towards a Mancunian Psychogeography. Currently under contract with Manchester University Press. Monograph. |
Conference Papers
2013 | “A North-West Passage: Notes on the Possibility of a Mancunian Psychogeography”. Northern Identities conference, University of Huddersfield. |
2008 | “Transforming Psychogeography: From Paris to London”. Literary London Conference, Brunel University. |
Teaching and Public Engagement
2011-2012 | Graduate Teaching Assistant, ʻReading Literatureʼ, University of Manchester. |
2008-2009 | Seminar leader, ʻReading Capitalʼ, Salford Restoration Office, Manchester. Fortnightly reading group for the discussion of Marxʼs Capital for postgraduate students and artists. |
2008 | Course designer and lecturer, ʻSituationists and the Cityʼ, Cornerhouse, Manchester. Eight-week public course exploring the history of the Situationist International. |
2007-2008 | Seminar leader, Salford Restoration Office reading group. |
Literary Consultancy
2013 | Sifter, Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award 2014 |
Sifter, BBC Short Story Award 2013 | |
2010 - | Book reviewer, Booktrust Regular contributer of reviews of new literary fiction, non-fiction, fiction in translation, and childrenʼs fiction titles for www.booktrust.org.uk. |
Non-academic Publications and Collaborations
2012 - | Editorial board member, Gdansk, international journal of contemporary art and literature. Fellow board members: David Price (The Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University, UK), Gary Leddington (HISK, Ghent, Belgium), and Koen Sels (Antwerp). |
2012 | ʻUtopia and the 2012 Olympicsʼ, in The Art of Dissent: Adventures in Londonʼs Olympic State, ed. by Hilary Powell and Isaac Marrero-Guillamón (London: Marshgate, 2012) (With Rowena Hay). Book chapter. |
2010 | ʻReflectionsʼ, in Art and Conflict (Aberystwyth: Literature Across Frontiers, 2010). Book chapter. |
2008 | ‘Drifts’, in Andrew Bracey, Beer (Manchester: Limited Edition Artistʼs Book). Book chapter. |
2007 | ‘Introduction’, in Under Maintenance (Manchester: Contents May Vary, 2007). Essay for exhibition catalogue. |
For my web design work, please see my portfolio.